Design and Art Australia Online

Painter and teacher who was born in Macclesfield, England May 28, 1878. He studied on a Government Local Scholarship c1893-8 under James Ward at the School of Art and obtained his Art Teachers Certificate. He then studied textile design at Hope Mills Macclesfield and worked for a time as a textile designer and teacher at Halifax Secondary School and Ashton-on-Lyne School of Art.

In 1901 he won the first “Royal College of Art Scholarship”, tenable for three more years at _50 per annum, and worked in the Stained Glass Atelier of the Design School under W. R. Lethaby. He studied woodcarving, tapestry weaving, writing and illumination. As well as being top student he also won the upper school prize money for Design and Craftwork.

Lethaby wrote in a reference in 1913, “He gave special attention to Designing for Textiles and to practical work in Stained Glass, in both with excellent results. For Design he has, I consider, a distinct gift, his pattern work being fresh and strong and of good colour. In Stained Glass he has worked out some admirable pieces from his own cartoons.” He also won the Royal College of Art Travelling Scholarship, which he used to visit Paris and study in Rome, Naples, Florence, Venice, Bologna, Pistoia, and spent time in the Rome Academy of Arts.

He became a “Full Associate of the Royal College of Art ARCA (London) Holder of First Class in Architecture, Design, Painting and Modelling.” While in London he carried out a number of windows for that City, together with tapestry, weaving and illumination work.

In 1907 he ventured out to India to become Vice Principal, then Acting Principal, of the Sir Jamsetjee Jejeebhai School of Art Bombay, where he stayed until December 1912. During this time he made many studies mainly in oils of the many facets of Indian life, including several of the primitive hill tribes, which gained him recognition in art circles in France.

In the years he spent in India he followed a style of figure studies and portraiture, reminiscent of Frank Bragwyn, which style was to colour his figure compositions for many years to come. He came to Perth in 1913 but in 1915 moved on to Victoria.

On migrating to Victoria he was Art Master at Bendigo School of Mines, Ballarat Technical Art School, Caufield Technical Art School, Head of the Art Department of the Gordon Insitute of Technology, Geelong, followed by a period as Senior Master in Art training at the Working Men’s’ College Melbourne (Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology).

According to a family biographical typescript he was able to pass on his knowledge of various crafts “increasing Craft Work in Australia, particularly in the Technical Schools and at the Gordon Institute.” During these years he continued painting in both oil and watercolours and held several exhibitions of his work in the main centres in Victoria.

He married Evelyn and had five children. His wife was a spinner and he made her a box spinning wheel during World War I, which is now in the collection of the Western Australian Museum. One of their daughters was the art teacher and painter Marjory Rowbothom.

Leaving Victoria in 1927 the family moved to Albany, Western Australia. He immediately exhibited with the West Australian Society of Arts. His entries in 1927 were oil paintings of Napier Bridge; Oyster Harbour; Showery Weather, and Abandoned. In 1928 he exhibited several oils. One entitled Wise Men was priced at _105, the others were 4 guineas each. Six oils paintings were exhibited in 1930 – all landscapes.

He loved the bush, the golden flashes of Wattle and Sunlight in the sombre greens of the Eucalypts and he loved depicting the knarled giant Paperbarks backed by the misty blues of the rugged hills. George Benson describing his entry in the West Australian Society of Arts exhibition in 1931 remarked that his work was “Corotesque.”

He became Art Master at Perth Technical College in 1935 retaining this position until 1946, having been asked to continue in charge for some years beyond the age of retirement. During these years he exhibited regularly in Perth, in the mediums of oil and watercolour, and contributed works of sculpture to various institutions, notably that at Clontarf Boy’s Town. For many years he was on the Board of Directors of the Perth Art Gallery and examples of his work are to be seen, both in the City and at several country Galleries. Walter Rowbotham died while on holiday in England on April 24, 1951.

Writers:

Dr Dorothy Erickson

Date written:

2010

Last updated:

2011